Cross Boundary Traffic

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) is an express rail link connecting Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. It aims at providing a fast and convenient railway service linking the three places.

The Hong Kong section of the XRL will be a 26-km long underground rail line on a dedicated track that runs from the terminus in West Kowloon to the boundary at Huanggang, where it will connect with the XRL Mainland section. The two termini of the XRL will be at West Kowloon in Hong Kong and Shibi in Guangzhou. Intermediate stations include Futian and Longhua in Shenzhen and Humen in Dongguan.

With the XRL, the journey time between Hong Kong and Guangzhou will be reduced from about 100 minutes as at present to 48 minutes. The proposed Mainland section will be connected to the Beijing-Guangzhou Passenger Line and the Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen Passenger Line which are part of the national railway system. Hence, through this rail link, Hong Kong can be connected directly with major Mainland cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai. Passengers using the XRL can also reach other major cities in the Pearl River Delta via the Intercity Rapid Rail. Upon its completion, the XRL will help promote Hong Kong as the gateway to the Pearl River Delta area, further strengthen the economic ties and cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, promote mutual economic prosperity and development, and raise the competitiveness of the region as a whole.

The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved the funding applications of the Hong Kong section of the XRL on 16 January 2010. We have commenced construction of the project with a view to completion in 2015.